Book picks similar to
Face Beside the Fire by Laurens van der Post


fiction
general-fiction
multi-continent
south-africa

A Heather's Forge Cozy Mystery Series: Complete Boxed Set


NL Cameron - 2019
     After Allie Garrett's great Aunt mysteriously passes away, Allie inherits the Barrell Inn and it's mysterious clue finding cat, Pixie. When Pixie turns up a clue, she also turns the entire town upside town, uncovering a secret that's been hidden for years. This quirky cozy mystery is full of twists, turns and memorable characters as well as a hunky handyman that turns all of the heads in town. The Heather's Forge Cozy Mystery Series includes all six books: * Green with Envy * Choked Up * Straight Through the Heart * Hounded to Death * Inside Out * Under the Family Tree This fun cozy mystery is full of amateur female sleuthing but does not include graphic violence, sex or swearing.

It's Killing Jerry


Sharn Hutton
    For treachery, blackmail and murder.He might be saving the world in his imagination as an MI5 agent, but Jerry's real life boss, wife and ex are all sick of his shenanigans and figure they’d be better off without him.More use dead than alive, he winds up on the news, reported missing and presumed murdered, his fate a mystery to all but one person. Lies used to make life easier, but now one thing’s for sure: being Jerry is murder.

Sarah Morris


D.E. Stevenson - 2019
    Decisive, resourceful and independent, Sarah faces challenges in love and friendship from those around her and the wider circumstances of the war as she travels across the cities and countrysides of England and Scotland. Often described as gentle romances, D. E. Stevenson novels are neither overblown nor unduly tragic, populated with characters who quietly make those around them better simply because of their existence. Consistently satisfying, there is a good reason why Stevenson has amassed a devoted following.

My Name Is Nathan Lucius


Mark Winkler - 2015
    Disaffected, hard-drinking and plagued by blackouts, Nathan lives alone and has only one true friend, a woman named Madge. But Madge is dying slowly of cancer, and when she asks Nathan to end her pain, she sets off a shocking string of events.A modern-day answer to Crime and Punishment, My Name Is Nathan Lucius is a taut and unforgiving exploration of the intersection of violence, trauma, social responsibility, and memory. Stylish, intense, and unforgettable, this glittering noir gem that will appeal to readers of Irvine Welsh and Chuck Palahniuk as well as fans of Thomas Harris and Dennis Lehane.

Rebecca's Children: A saga of love & betrayal in 19th Century Wales


Kate Dunn - 2016
    For fans of Nadine Dorries, Maeve Binchy, Freda Lightfoot and Dilly Court. Lives are on the line as the workers fight back in the Welsh countryside… 1829, Wales For centuries. generations of the Jenkins family have eked out a living from their Carmarthenshire hill farm. But when a fire destroys virtually all of their possessions the children witness their lives crumbling around them. Mary and William find they have barely enough land left to provide for their basic needs. Their only option is to take on more work, but William longs for action, and Mary begins to suspect that he has become embroiled with the Rebecca-ites, a shadowy group of nationalists pitted against the English landowners whose tolls have bankrupted so many Welshman. As tensions mount, Mary becomes ever more torn between her mistrust of the rebels’ violence and her growing attraction to Jac Tŷ Isha, one of their leaders. And when the British government decides to put a stop to the revolt, the danger to the men she loves increases a hundredfold… REBECCA’S CHILDREN is a poignant, beautifully crafted saga of love and betrayal, set against the background of Wales in mid-1800s – a country aflame with political and social unrest. "An accomplished first novel." - The Times "A well-handled tale of passion, social injustice and nationalist fervour in nineteenth century Wales." - The Liverpool Post “Kate Dunn is a fine storyteller.” - Ben Elton

The Quilt


Rochelle Carlton - 2014
    She is engaged to a handsome artist, lives above an windswept beach, and has a rapidly growing list of clients. But in a heartbeat everything changes, and she is left staring at an empty future. It starts with her naked fiancé disappearing in the rear-view mirror, and ends with news so devastating she collapses, sobbing, on the filthy floor of an airport toilet. It is the day that changes Joanne forever. Paul Clarke looks like a man that has stepped out of the pages of a women's magazine. He is living on Twin Pines Station, a farm shrouded in mystery following the disappearance of his grandmother. The small town community expect Paul to marry his spoilt, pregnant girlfriend, and settle in the area like the previous generations of the Clarke family. But not everything is as it appears, and life for Paul is about to be turned upside down. A tragic twist of fate brings Joanne and Paul together. But neither is looking for romance, and both are struggling with loss and the deceptions of the past. What unfolds is an unforgettable story of friendship, family and changes born through love. "This should become a TV series or a movie. It is that good in my opinion." - Mr Butler "Moving, rousing and beautifully written." - Jackie Parry "Being away from New Zealand it was such an indulgence to be given such wonderful imagery." - Meilyrox “All these threads come together in bold colors and powerful strands in Rochelle Carlton's compelling novel "The Quilt: Unraveled" to render vividly life's harsh realities in a story that is both personal and intimate.. This multi-generation family saga is immense in scope (and intense).” – Mark Fine Mature content warning. This book contains language that may offend some readers.

Year of the Dog: A Novel


Shelby Hearon - 2007
    She flees to Burlington, Vermont, home of Aunt May, her mother's only living relative. There she adopts Beulah, a Labrador puppy in training to become a companion dog for the blind. Not for a moment does Janey suspect that this "year of the dog" will change her life forever.Shelby Hearon is an acknowledged master at illuminating the nuances of relationships. In Year of the Dog, she explores the surprising ways that the heart heals after a betrayal. While Janey is training Beulah, Beulah leads Janey to a new love, James Maarten, a smart, "fidgety" teacher they meet at the dog park. As Janey soon discovers, James has suffered a betrayal of his own that makes it hard for him to open up and trust her with even the smallest details of his past. While Janey tries to help James, she also reaches out to her enigmatic Aunt May, a retired librarian reputed to be the friend, perhaps even the lover, of popular mystery writer Bert Greenwood. When Janey attempts to solve the twin mysteries of why her great aunt has distanced herself from the family—and what her true relationship is with Bert Greenwood—Beulah provides the clues that lead Janey to uncover the secrets of her aunt's life. By the time Beulah's stay with Janey comes to an end, the people whose lives she's linked will discover that healing and reconciliation can come in the most unexpected ways.

Relative Strangers: A British Family Story


Allie Cresswell - 2012
    The McKay family gathers for a week-long holiday at a rambling old house to celebrate the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Robert and Mary. In recent years only funerals and sudden, severe illnesses have been able to draw them together and as they gather in the splendid rooms of Hunting Manor, their differences are soon uncomfortably apparent. For all their history, their traditions, the connective strands of DNA, they are relative strangers. There are truths unspoken, but the question is: how much truth can a family really stand? The family holiday mushrooms, drawing in sundry relatives both estranged and deranged. The machinations of an appalling, uninvited aunt threaten the holiday – and the family – with irreparable damage. This book will make you question your own family situation. What does it really mean to be 'family'?

Other Women's Children


Perri Klass - 1990
    Amelia Stern became a pediatrician to cure children, not see them die. In a kind of bargain she strikes with herself and fate, she does everything she can to save other women's children, hoping to keep her own child safe from harm.It's never easy. Amelia's hospital life contrasts so starkly with her cozy domestic world that she can't help but bring it home sometimes. Always available for medical emergencies and the needs of her helpless patients, Amelia begins to ignore her own needs. And her family life and marriage fade in importance as she heroically fights to save all of her children.A tender and timely examination of a doctor's world, a mother's world, and a wife's world, OTHER WOMEN'S CHILDREN is a revealing X ray of the complications of women's lives today."Superb . . . A poignant literary page-turner." --The New York Times Book Review

Thing of Darkness: A 1920s Historical Mystery (A Smith Investigates Mystery Book 2)


Beth Byers - 2021
    

Northern Sky


Mark Radcliffe - 2005
    His dream is to play with them again, but the club's new owner has ambitions plans that may not involve Ed, and his ex may be less than willing to take him back. This is a funny and touching novel, written with real Northern soul by one of the country's most popular and knowledgeable commentators on music.

Gauri..!!


Sathya Sam - 2020
    Her character is similar to that of many women we see in our lives. But what is different is the dramatic twist in the tale, which you won’t see coming. The protagonist Gauri is patient and persistent, with an undying love and affection for her husband, much like many women in the country. Indeed, Gauri’s story is the tale of many women in India, who sacrifice their needs, desires and dreams for the sake of people dear to them. This work of fiction is a tribute to every unsung woman in every household. A big salute to these strong women, without whom society will perish.

The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven


Alan Warner - 2006
    Alan Warner’s fifth novel delights and provokes with vivid, erotic flashbacks to play back Manolo’s life in passionate Technicolor.From the Hardcover edition.

A Summer Ball's Love


Alice Kirks - 2021
    Unable to stand her loneliness anymore, she hesitantly attends a ball where she meets the most charming Earl she could ever dream of. However, her stepmother is not happy with Mariah’s unexpected acquaintance, as she has always envied and viewed her as her own daughter’s competitor. To make matters worse, Mariah’s illness gets in the way of spending time with her charming admirer and threatens to bring her blossoming dreams crashing down. Will Mariah let down her defences and find the way to be with the man that has started to fill her with joy and love? Or will her bossy stepmother and sudden illness destroy it all?John Blackmore, Earl of Winchester, did not intend to spend his whole summer in Cheltenham. However, after losing a bet at a card game, he is compelled to keep his word. Little did he know that his dull summer would soon turn into a fascinating one, due to him being immediately mesmerised by the gracious lady he meets on a special night. When John sees that this ethereal existence has been haunted by a mysterious illness, he is determined to move heaven and earth to help her recover. However, time is running short, as the beautiful woman’s health mysteriously deteriorates with each passing day. Will John manage to find the cause of Mariah’s illness and the cure for both her disease and his own heart? Or will he fail to rescue the only woman who has managed to occupy his every thought?While Mariah and John discover the depth of their shared feelings, wicked powers threaten the blooming love between them. When John discovers hidden truths that might irreversibly change Mariah's life forever, her overbearing stepmother will make any effort to keep her confined to the house. Will Mariah and John break down the walls that jeopardize their only chance at a happy life? Could fate have something better in store for them both?

A Governess to Heal the Earl


Tiffany Baton - 2021
    So, she applies for the position of governess for the Earl of Haskett’s children, and takes it upon herself to bring the light back to their lives.Graham Gulliver, the Earl of Haskett, is still haunted by the loss of his wife. When he employs a new governess, he is glad to see the house slowly fill up with laughter again. But he wasn’t expecting her to capture his attention as well!As much as they try to hide their feelings, their hearts secretly yearn for each other. But the awfully familiar figure watching them from the shadows is willing to go to extreme measures to keep them apart. Caroline is forced to take a heartbreaking decision, and Graham needs to hurry, lest he loses the woman he loves for a second time...